Sunday, December 09, 2007

Picture: No Country For Old MenBest Picture is what it's about, mais non?Director: Julian Schnabel The Diving Bell and ButterflySee previous Schnabel-centric post here --he could be a director nominee with AMPAS. I could totally see that. He's wayyyy too low on my prediction chart. What was I thinking?Actor:Frank Langella Starting Out in the EveningI hear this book is excellentActress: Marion Cotillard La Vie En RoseStill the Oscar frontrunner for best actress on account of the mimicry biopic thing

I'm gonna have to admit, I'm a bit "meh" about No Country. Although it's a tentative "meh" as I saw it during the London film festival after a full day of screenings. Must watch it again tout suite once its released here proper in Jan.

But still, it didn't have a "wow" initial impact on me. It seemed to be just a fine film.

well, no gold for cate? so far, wow, that´s weird, any thoughts on that nathaniel?Well, I´m also praying for good news to Jodie Foster or Helena Carter, but I don´t see it happening today, perharps the golden globes cheer me up, and yeah I forgot, I want some love to Nicole Kidman and Jennifer, my girlfriend watched and said it´s an ok movie but they are amazing!

I'm starting to think that voters everywhere don't want to give a supporting award to Blanchett, because she already got one, i think they consider a lead actress by now so they will give her major awards for a leading performance next time

but i wouldn't be thinking that AMY RYAN is a threat for a GLOBE. doesn't feel like a globe performance to me. even if she's a nominee everywhere doesn't feel like a "globe winner" you know? or is that just me.

critics awards are not always indicative of Oscar traction --see also Peter Sarsgaard who won truckloads for SHATTERED GLASS and wasn't nominated, damn them.

I did not care that much for No Country... I love that Cotillard won!!! Hope she goes on to Oscar glory. Amy Ryan was excellent and I'm happy for her success with the awards. I have not seen Frank Langella ot The Diving Bell ...

Good comparison Sarsgaard/Ryan, Nathaniel.And you're right about the Globes : they prefer "names" or more popular actors, or more showy performances. And they did not give the award to Cate Blanchett for The Aviator, so they might want to make up for that and award her this yearmy alternate for the win would be Saorse Ronan pulling a Anna Paquin

I think it will be a real yawner if that Marion chick wins best actress....the first & last we'll ever hear from her ala Louise Fletcher, et al. So what if she imitated some old French singer that no one's ever heard of. No one even saw the movie. A win for Julie Christie would be great & quite exciting....will have a 42-year spread between BA awards - not to mention she was fan-tabulous.

I finally saw No Country for Old Men which I missed at the Toronto Film Festival. It's a very good film but I don't think it's a great one. It will be a very odd choice if it wins the Oscar for Best Picture.

I still don't think we've heard the end of Blanchett yet. She's bound to get one big prize for her performance in I'm Not There. This Amy Ryan thing is a little weird.

well, to be honest - I have never heard of edith piaf....i'm ducking / squating / cowering. sorry. i remember a few months ago, I had never heard of some guy that was mentioned in your blog in the fashion world - which i was chastized for. Edith Piaf? sorry....can ya hum a few bars of one of her hits?

I think it will be a real yawner if that Marion chick wins best actress....the first & last we'll ever hear from her ala Louise Fletcher, et al. So what if she imitated some old French singer that no one's ever heard of. No one even saw the movie. A win for Julie Christie would be great & quite exciting....will have a 42-year spread between BA awards - not to mention she was fan-tabulous.

Plenty of people saw the movie that counted, and Marion Cotillard has everything that the Academy creams itself over to reward for its lead Oscars, and with good reason. And calling Edith Piaf just some "old French singer that no one's heard of" just shows your vast ignorance. Edith Piaf is one of the most beloved voices of our time, and Marion Cotillard delivered a performance for the ages in capturing Edith's story in all of its glory and tragedies. It's a beautiful, heartbreaking performance that has Oscar written all over it, and I'd rather see that awarded than see a second Oscar go to Julie Christie for that sleepy, meh performance she gave in "Away From Her".

anyhoo....you know who I'm thinking of tonight? David Brudnoy, who was a terrific guy, a great film critic in Boston, a passionate professor at Boston University, a wonderful talkmaster at WBZ radio. I had the pleasure of working with him at Channel 7, WHDH-TV, in Boston, well over 20 years ago. A premiere Boston film critic, who was an active member of the Boston Society of Film Critics. And, listen mister anonymous, don't call me names, ie "vast ignorance"....my old pal David Brudnoy would not have liked that! Trust me....walk out onto any main street USA and ask who Edith Piaf is.....

Well, I didn't find Christie's performance to be "exquisite" or anywhere near it. It's no more of a diss than you reducing Cotillard's performance to mimicing tricks and insuting nonsense like she's doing nothing more than performing in a Saturday Night Live sketch. You're no more "right" than I am.

YAY for Frank Langella!! If this keeps up, maybe he can get some Oscar momentum rolling...

Ironically, I don't think "Starting Out in the Evening" is even playing in Boston yet...I don't understand why they don't roll it out in more cities - it's an absolute gem of a movie, and not just because of Langella's terrific performance...

For those of you who do have access to see it, for the love of good film, see it!!

It's not easy playing a historical figure at all. Copying someone from a tape. WTF? A bigger achievement.lol. No offense, but you guys sound a bit ignorant. Have you guys ever performed? Apparently NOT.

Well, with both of them likely winning globes, it'll be Christie vs. Cotillard all season long. We probably won't have a good idea until the envelope's opened which way it's gonna go. And what a fight it'll be, if these comments are any indication...

I don't think it'd be a yawner for Cotillard to win, simply because she's acting in french, and it'd be only the second best actress oscar to a foreign film EVER and the first one in french. So that'd be kind of a big deal. But a Christie win would be cool, too.

Personally I think I'd prefer a surprise steal by Linney.

But I love that there won't be a frontrunner. I guess whoever wins the SAG will be looking good (unless it's neither Christie nor Cotillard), but regardless, she'll be far from a sure bet. Not like LAST year... and the year before... and the year before that... and the year before that... you really have to go back to 2001/2002 to find a race with any kind of suspense. So yay!

Speaking of Best Director predictions: Why do you think Joe Wright is a "shoo-in" at this point, Nat? I am thinking Atonement is the most likely "Best Picture nominee without Best Director nomination" this year. Methinks Lumet, Anderson, Burton and Schnabel are all much stronger BD contenders than their respective films in BP race, and if one or more of them gets nominated, relatively unknown Wright would likely be the first to be thrown out to make place for them.

I am not buying the whole Cotillard versus Christie fight (I liked both performances, btw, but felt both movies were somewhat weak).

In my opinion, if Cotillard just gets a nomination, that is a win for her. The Academy awards performers for whom English is a second language only if they either are in a primarily English language film (e.g., Magnani, Binoche, Signoret, Colbert, Ngor) or have proved themselves otherwise over their career (e.g., Benigni, Loren).

La Vie En Rose? Definitely not in English.

Marion Cotillard? Pretty much an unknown quantity in the US pre-LVER.

It is much more likely that these performers are nominated, but don't win. Just thinking of some performers nominated for performances primarily in a foreign language - Mastroianni, Giannini, Depardieu, Barrault, Adjani, Cortese, Cruz, Stallone (I kid). But the list goes on and on. And I won't even cover the primarily English language performances by ESL performers.

Maybe I am wrong here. But it seems to me that Julie Christie is the clear frontrunner. If Marion just gets nominated, she is a winner.

Yeah Jimmy, I'd say Sissy's norma-rae-moment is the plate throwing (although it lost to Halle's norma-rae-moment which was when she was in the hospital and been told her boy had just died/humping Billy Bob on the floor) and Cher's has got to be "snap out of it!". Can't recognise the the other two though...